Nearly all staff at troubled regional carrier Brindabella Airlines have been told they're out of a job just two days before Christmas.

The 140 workers at the Canberra-based airline were told on Monday that 128 of them had lost their jobs.

Staff were told the airline could no longer be sold after it lost most of its licences and the majority of its planes were returned to their owners.

All but a dozen staff at the cash-strapped airline will be retrenched, as the receiver, KordaMentha, tries to sell the company's remaining assets, mainly four J-41 aircraft.

A KordaMentha spokesman, Michael Smith, said the receivers did not want to dangle false hope in front of the workers once it became clear there wasn't anything left to sell.

"It's a terrible time of year for this to happen," he said on Monday. "But the receivers thought it was better to be upfront with the workers as soon as the worst had been realised, to give them every possible chance to use the holiday period to look for work."